PLAYERS out injured, others sadly lacking in form and a team winless interstate, but Western Bulldogs coach Luke Beveridge concedes the ultimate responsibility for his side’s inability to back up their 2016 premiership heroics lies with him.
Beveridge was unsure if ‘flat’ was the right word for the Bulldogs’ dismal 46-point thrashing at the hands of the Swans, but either way, the coach’s mood after the match left little to the imagination as to what he thought of his team’s loss.
“We’re frustrated that a majority of our players who carried our club last year, for one reason or another, haven’t been able to find their best. It’s up to all of us to take responsibility,” Beveridge said.
“The buck stops with me. I’m the one who needs to get them going. We’ve got great people who work with our footy club, but it’s my responsibility to re-ignite the flame.
“It’s my responsibility to get us going again and play somewhere near the levels we were last year, regardless of whether we lose personnel at different times through injury, and I haven’t been able to do that to the level that I’d like as yet.
“Hopefully at some point we get some momentum and we start playing near the standard that we know we can play, but it’s been too spasmodic.”
Beveridge bristled at questions about why Tom Liberatore remained omitted from the side, pointing to the midfielder as a case-in-point of what is going wrong at the Bulldogs in 2017.
While pledging his thanks for Liberatore’s contribution to the premiership, Beveridge said the team would always be picked on current form, not previous achievements.
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“[Tom’s] not the only one who’s come back this year and hasn’t been able to find his best,” he said.
“I’m sure he’ll come in at some point, but we need our players playing at their very, very best. It’s the reason why we’re six and five, because we’ve stagnated.
“You don’t get picked on reputation if you’re not playing well enough. Someone takes your spot. That’s what’s happened.”
The Bulldogs were soundly beaten across the greasy SCG, but most alarmingly, after being in with a sniff at three-quarter time, they were pummeled in the final quarter by a much hungrier opponent.
WATCH: Luke Beveridge's full post-match press conference
“We need to continue to evolve and get better,” Beveridge said.
“Tonight we looked off the pace in many areas.
“Does that mean you move away from the core principles of the way you play?
“Definitely not, but there needs to be a renewed energy for us to be a threat in the back end of the year. “
The injured Marcus Adams meets his teammates as they walk off the SCG. Picture: AFL Photos
